Trial begins in 'rape kit' case (+Arrest indictments)

Audrie PalmerMidland Reporter-Telegram

Published 3:00 pm, Monday, March 28, 2011

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Trial begins in 'rape kit' case (+Arrest indictments)

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A jury was picked and opening statements from the state were presented Monday afternoon in the trial against a Big Spring man accused of having been found with a "rape kit" in his car while in Midland last April.

Juan Jose Guerra, 49, was indicted by a grand jury on May 19 on four second-degree felonies of possession of a criminal instrument with the intent to commit aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault after he was arrested April 28, 2010. Local law enforcement reported finding him with homemade items they designated a rape kit.

He faces a possible sentence of two to 20 years in the state penitentiary on each count if found guilty; prosecutors previously told the Reporter-Telegram that the sentences also could be stacked.

Seven men and seven women were chosen as jurors, with two to serve as alternates.

The trial has been continued twice from the original start dates of Nov. 29, 2010, and Jan. 10, according to court documents.

The indictment was read to the jury and Guerra pleaded not guilty at 4:30 p.m.

Assistant District Attorney Laura Nodolf described to the court the items Guerra was found with, including a bungee cord with a sock attached.

"Sounds a little bit suspicious, doesn't it?" she asked the jurors in her opening statements.

The bungee cord and sock took are items law enforcement say can be used as a gag.

Nodolf told the court that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, along with her husband who works with the Border Patrol, had gone out to dinner on the night of April 28, 2010, and returned to the ICE office to pick up a vehicle when the agent observed a gray Toyota Camry driving at a low rate of speed.

Some of the businesses Guerra was driving slowly by included a dance studio and playground at a church, Nodolf added.

"They saw a man in a vehicle watching children play on the playground," she said.

While the ICE agent was concerned about the safety of the other employees at the office, Nodolf said her husband was wondering why Guerra was spending time watching the children play.

"He thought the man in the vehicle was paying too much attention to those children who were near," she said.

After getting help from other officers, Guerra was stopped in the 1500 block of Idlewilde Drive and a stun gun was found in his shirt pocket, along with a pocket knife and a revolver.

He told officers he had another gun in his vehicle, Nodolf said, and officers found a coat with another stun gun, pre-cut duct tape strips and zip tie handcuffs. Another plastic bag in the trunk of the vehicle revealed lubricant, a prescription for Viagra, a flashlight and condom.

A day planner also was found inside the vehicle that included the address of a 14-year-old Midland girl.

"The officers all agreed that the items in the car would be used to abduct and sexually assault somebody," she told the court. "They believed all these items to be a part of a rape kit."

Guerra is being represented by Midland attorneys Jason Leach and Richard Alvarado. Both declined to present opening arguments before the court.

The trial will continue this morning with law enforcement witnesses at 9 a.m. on the eighth floor of the Midland County Courthouse.